Flint Hills Nature Trail

Notice: Construction on Phase 2 is underway. This means that certain sections of the trail will be closed. Check Kanza’s Facebook page for updates on which sections are closed.

The trail is currently closed for construction between Rd. 700 and Rd 525 near Council Grove, and from Topeka St. in Vassar to 248th St. in Osage County. Various sections from Council Grove to Bushong and from Vassar to 68 Highway will be open and closed as trail construction progresses. We will post updates as sections are open/closed. The entire trail will be open for the Rush the Rails on October 7th.

The Flint Hills Nature Trail stretches for 117 miles across east-central Kansas, from Osawatomie in the east to Herington in the west, and passes through communities including Rantoul, Ottawa, Pomona, Vassar, Osage City, Miller, Admire, Allen, Bushong, and Council Grove. The trail passes through five counties: Miami, Franklin, Osage, Lyon, and Morris.

As its name suggests, the trail crosses the beautiful Flint Hills. The Flint Hills represent one of the last remaining tallgrass prairie ecosystems in the world. It is home to abundant prairie plant and wildlife species, spectacular views, national historic sites, and a diverse set of recreational areas. The eastern portions of the route travels alongside the Marais Des Cygnes River, between rushing waters and towering bluffs, through rolling farmland and riparian woodlands.

The Flint Hills Nature Trail is the seventh-longest rail-trail in America, and the longest trail in Kansas. It follows the general route of the Santa Fe National Historic Trail and forms a component of the coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail.

Flint Hills Nature Trail History

The Flint Hills Nature Trail is built on an old railroad corridor. The route was originally developed in the late 1880s, as the Council Grove, Osage City & Ottawa Railway. It later became the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

MoPac discontinued railway service on the line in the 1980s, and subsequently abandoned. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy acquired and railbanked the corridor in 1995 and later transferred ownership to the Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy.

The KRTC has been developing the trail in sections, where volunteers have been available, and where grant funding and donations have permitted the old corridor to be refurbished.

The Flint Hills Nature Trail was the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s “Trail of the Month” in March 2010. The RTC also features the Flint Hills Nature Trail on their TrailLink site.

The Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy (KRTC) manages the Flint Hills Nature Trail and the Landon Nature Trail, converting these former rail lines into non-motorized public trails and wildlife areas across Kansas. We are a grassroots, non-profit organization of local volunteers.

Greenways are ‘the paths to the future’ as they link people to the outdoors. They meet an ever growing need, a need to leave the hectic city (if only for a moment) and to experience earth beneath your feet and fresh air in your lungs–to feel life and to feel alive.